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Apple Says It Will Fix The FaceTime Bug That Allows You To Access Someone's iPhone Camera And Microphone Before They Pick Up (buzzfeednews.com)
Apple said Friday morning that it had a fix for a bug discovered in Apple's video and audio chat service FaceTime this week, which had allowed callers to access the microphone and front-facing video camera of the person they were calling, even if that person hadn't picked up. The security issue is fixed on its servers, the company said, but the iPhone software update to re-enable the feature for users won't be rolled out until next week. From a report: "We have fixed the Group FaceTime security bug on Apple's servers and we will issue a software update to re-enable the feature for users next week," Apple said in an emailed statement to BuzzFeed News. "We thank the Thompson family for reporting the bug. We sincerely apologize to our customers who were affected and all who were concerned about this security issue. We appreciate everyone's patience as we complete this process."
I'm not sure how you make a program that accesses the camera and microphone before you click the "answer" button. That is pretty basic stuff.
You're under the false impression that the user owns the phone; the actual owner (Apple) can choose to do with it as it wants, including letting their servers decide when your sensors are active.
They do own the phone. The hardware is theirs and Apple cannot get it back. The SERVICES and software the phone uses are not owned by the user. They license or subscribe to those and whatever terms come with them. Yes, these are necessary for the device to be useful but that is a separate discussion from who owns the hardware. This is yet another example of why Apple is a software company, not a hardware company. The hardware is just the pretty box through which they sell their software and services.